Data privacy shifts from breaches to authorised surveillance
Privacy concerns now focus on agency as surveillance expands across borders.
Data Privacy Week has returned at a time when personal information is increasingly collected by default rather than through breaches. Campaigns urge awareness, yet privacy is being reshaped by lawful, large-scale data gathering driven by corporate and government systems.
In the US, companies now collect, retain and combine data with AI tools under legal authority, often without meaningful consent. Platforms such as TikTok illustrate how vast datasets are harvested regardless of ownership, shifting debates towards who controls data rather than how much is taken.
US policy responses have focused on national security rather than limiting surveillance itself. Pressure on TikTok to separate from Chinese ownership left data collection intact, while border authorities in the US are seeking broader access to travellers’ digital and biometric information.
Across the US technology sector, privacy increasingly centres on agency rather than secrecy. Data Privacy Week highlights growing concern that once information is gathered, control is lost, leaving accountability lagging behind capability.
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